Dozens of guns, thousands of rounds of ammo seized in Anderson raid

ANDERSON, Ind. -A raid of a home in Anderson netted authorities the largest seizure of guns and ammo in Madison County history.

A joint task force between the Anderson Police, the Madison County Drug Task Force, and the ATF raided the home of Keith Irwin on January 17.

During the raid, authorities confiscated 40 guns, 200+ magazines, 65,000 rounds of ammunition, an undisclosed number of explosives, and undisclosed amount of drugs and $20,000 in cash.

Court documents detail that inside Irwin’s garage authorities also found boxes of AK and AR style rifle receivers and “large metal working machines including mills, lathes, punches, grinders and welding equipment.” Documents later detail that “Some of the receivers had been prepared for the necessary metal work required to manufacture them into functioning guns.”

Authorities say the raid came as the result of a tip they received in 2018 that alleged Irwin was manufacturing and selling his own weapons, as well as trafficking large amounts of drugs.

“We don’t know the extent that these weapons could have been used, but we do know this, they’re not going to be used in any criminal activity at this point,” Anderson PD public information officer Joel Sandefur said.

While manufacturing guns for personal use is not illegal, marketing and selling them is.

ATF spokesperson Suzanne Dabkowski says home manufactured weapons make it harder for the agency to track as they don’t have serial numbers.

“Without that trace information that’s just one more tool that we don’t have in our tool box”

According to court documents Irwin faces charges of dealing methamphetamine as a level 2 felony, possession of narcotic drugs as a level 3 felony, possession of cocaine as a level 5 felony

Officials say he was released from the Madison County jail after posting a $35,000 bond.